Moloka'l by Alan Brennert

Sixteen members participated in the discussion of Moloka'i at the Park Grove Library in October.  EVERYONE liked it and had varied reasons they liked it.

"Beautiful cover, very attractive and made me want to pick it up" someone said. "I would have never picked it up but I loved it."  "Liked the main character and the story through her eyes." "It was well-written" said another.  One member said they wished he had talked about more of the effects of the disease on those affected by leprosy or Hansen's Disease.  There was a lot of research that went into this book, someone mentioned, and another said the author "made everything very vivid, you could see how they looked with leprosy. It was tough for me to read, almost too vivid.  Loved all the characters, but I can see why someone was very afraid."  "I wanted to find out what happened to Rachel, it was so real to me, even though it was fiction, this was what real people had happen to them" another commented.

The historical fiction about the leper colony on the Hawaiian Island Moloka'i were hard to read from some of the members perspective.  One said "having a 5 year old taken away from her family was tough."  Another said "I couldn't understand mother's reaction, was heart-broken over it, but understood that she had to do it for her other children."

We talked about how we experienced in our own way, very contagious diseases and the quarantine that has gone on around us, how isolated we felt.  One person was hospitalized and had to have everyone around them gowned & gloved, and upon going home did not have contact with other family members, isolated in her bedroom.  Others talked about having measles and quarantined.  We also talked about the fear of disease and how they must have felt that back in this time periods.  Our fears included H1N1, measles, polio, Ebola and even Aids.

We were glad for the workers that came to the Island to care for those who were diseased and they were not.  There were many that helped make sure the whole island and the people were taken care of.

Rachel found family where ever she was, with the young girls who she shared the facility with and Sister Catherine to Uncle Pono and Haleola.  Having Rachel connect with her sister at the end was so good and then her daughter Ruth.  "She always had family, she had that as a child and maintained that all her life.  She was easy to love" someone said.  Great story to read!